The crush occurred after two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other from different direction at an intersection close to the five-storey Jamarat Bridge in Mina.

Media captionBBC reporter Tchima Illa Issoufou: "I lost my aunt as a result of the stampede"

As part of the Hajj, pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca, to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil. The pillars stand where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.

The crush is the second disaster to strike in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 109 people.

Iranian anger

Offering condolences to the relatives of the dead and injured, King Salman said: "We have instructed concerned authorities to review the operations plan and to raise the level of organisation and management to ensure that the guests of God perform their rituals in comfort and ease."

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayyef, who chairs the Hajj committee, has begun an inquiry into the tragedy.

Deaths reported so far by nationality

Iran: 131

India: 14

Pakistan: 6

Turkey: 4

Indonesia: 3

Kenya: 3

Other nationalities (numbers not yet known): Niger: Chad

Interior ministry spokesman, Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki, said the reason for the unusual number of pilgrims at the site of the disaster was "not known yet".

Health Minister Khaled al-Falih promised a "fast" investigation and said the crush occurred "perhaps because some pilgrims moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities".

However, the head of Nigeria's Hajj delegation, the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II, told the BBC the crush "happened on the designated ways for incoming and outgoing pilgrims to the site crossing each other - which shouldn't be.

"We are therefore urging the Saudi authorities not to apportion blame to the pilgrims for not obeying instructions."

Iran has fiercely criticised Saudi Arabia's handling of the pilgrimage.

Announcing three days of national mourning, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: "The Saudi government should accept the responsibility of this sorrowful incident... Mismanagement and improper actions have caused this catastrophe."

'Tripping over'

The disaster began at 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday.

Gen Turki said: "The great heat and fatigue of the pilgrims contributed to the large number of victims."

The temperature in Mina was 46C on Thursday.

Image copyrightAFP/Getty ImagesImage caption
"Dead bodies stretch as far as my eyes can see," one BBC employee in Mina said

Image copyrightSPAImage caption
Hundreds of thousands of people continued to the Jamarat pillars despite the tragedy earlier

Image copyrightAPImage caption
Pilgrims converge on Mina to cast stones at three pillars representing the devil

"I saw someone trip over someone in a wheelchair and several people tripping over him," Abdullah Lotfy, from Egypt, told the Associated Press. "People were climbing over one another just to breathe."

Photographs showed the bodies of dozens of pilgrims on the ground, some piled high. They were all dressed in the simple white garments worn during the Hajj.

"Dead bodies stretch as far as my eyes can see," said Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi, the BBC's Abuja editor, who is in Mina.

The UK Foreign Office said it was urgently seeking more information about whether British nationals were involved.

Pope Francis, who is visiting the US, expressed his "sentiments of closeness" with Muslims, during a prayer service at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York.

Hajj: Previous tragedies

2006: 364 pilgrims die in a crush at foot of Jamarat Bridge in Mina

1997: 340 pilgrims are killed when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through Mina's tent city

1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual

1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites

1987: 402 people die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims

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